The present invention relates to an apparatus for transforming an overlapping stack formed of flat objects, in particular printed products, arriving on a first conveyor into an overlapping formation.
It is often the case that flexible flat objects, in particular printed products, for the purpose of further processing are unwound from a storage coil, in which they are arranged in a closely overlapping formation, or they are deposited on a belt conveyor, arranged in a horizontal stack, a so-called bar and are tilted. The corresponding edges of adjacent object have a relatively small spacing. This spacing is subject to considerable scatter. For the further processing of these objects arranged in a stack it is then often necessary to increase the spacing between the mutually corresponding edges of the objects. This is where the present invention intervenes.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for transforming an overlapping stack formed of flat objects arriving on a first conveyor into an overlapping formation, said apparatus ensuring the reliable formation of the overlapping formation with a simple construction.
The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved by the provision of an apparatus of the described type which comprises a displacement device which includes a guide means which guides a displacement member in an operating region and at least approximately in the conveying direction of the first conveyor. The displacement member is moved cyclically in the conveying direction through the operating region at a speed that is higher than the conveying speed of the first conveyor. Thus the objects are each displaced by the displacement member into an active region of a second conveyor which is driven at a conveying speed which is higher than that of the first conveyor.
In order to form the overlapping formation, each object is displaced individually, being carried along positively, as far as the downstream end of the operating region.
The number of operating strokes per unit time of the displacement member which is intended to act on the rear edge of the arriving objects is greater than the possible number of objects arriving per unit time. At a given conveying speed of the overlapping stack, this is given in the case of objects whose rear edges have a permissible minimum distance. Since the displacement members themselves execute more than one operating stroke, as referred to a single object, it is ensured that each of the objects is displaced individually and fed to the second conveyor, which is driven at a higher conveying speed.